Al-Qamishli: Armed Arab groups claim to have killed a leading PKK member

KurdWatch, July 24, 2016—On July 9, 2016, the Tall Hamis bataillon, an armed Arab opposition group, claimed to have killed Fahman Husayn the day before during an attack on his vehicle between al‑Qamishli and Himu, six kilometers to the west. Husayn, also known as Bahoz Erdal, is a leading member of the Kurdistan Worker’ Party (PKK) and is said to the actual commander of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its People’s Defense Units (YPG). Husayn himself denied his supposed death in writing and on the phone. The news agency Reuters and the Iraqi‑Kurdish TV station Rûdaw also denied the death notice citing a journalist closely affiliated to the PYD as well as a employee of the Qatari news channel Al Jazeera, the latter claiming to have spoken to Husayn.